Tuesday, March 03, 2015, 6:21 p.m.

Obama works to enlist outside support for Congress negotiations

WASHINGTON  President Barack Obama is working to enlist outside support for his position that high-income people pay more taxes as he heads into negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner on how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

Obama will hold separate meetings with labor and business leaders at the White House this week ahead of his Friday meeting with Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Obama will host labor leaders Tuesday and business leaders Wednesday, according to a White House official who asked for anonymity.

The president also will take questions from reporters Wednesday in his first news conference since June.

In his first comments at the White House since his re-election victory three days earlier, Obama called Friday for an immediate tax-cut extension for people earning less than $250,000 and insisted that top earners pay more. Earlier in the day, Boehner cited public support for the re-elected House Republican majority and said that tax rates must not go up.

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Obama needs to develop relationships with members of Congress from both parties. Apparently he has the skill set to win elections but has yet to show he can govern effectively. He has about 18 months to get something done on the economic front, forget about the illegals and the foreign baloney and get the country out of the ditch.